Lockdown
by CaughtinMyHead
Summary: When Bruce recieves a package from the future, he finds a startling video of Dick being tortured. While Bruce and Alfred try to stop the future from becoming a dark reality, Gotham Academy has been infultrated by some familiar criminals. Dick must find a way to save his classmates without exposing his identity, although not everything is what it seems...
1. The Recording

**This story is not placed during Invasion, Dick is still Robin in this and it only has all the main team members from the first season. That being said, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it so far.**

The package was a much like a hand reaching out from the darkness, you didn't know who it belonged to and whether or not to trust it. It arrived during the darkest and most unsettling time of night, a time that usually was erupting with criminal activity in Gotham, and it sat upon the Wayne Manson front steps the way a rock would sit inside someone's stomach. Bruce stood towering over the package from his front door, the cardboard box the only bit of color in the abyss of shadows and fog that was his front yard.

Something about Bruce standing there must have concerned Alfred, for Bruce could sense Alfred's scarce presence lingering behind him.

"Is something wrong, Master Bruce?" Alfred inquired.

Bruce cautiously picked up the package, it was surprisingly light and he could hear the sound of paper sliding around in it.

"I thought you had gone to sleep, Alfred," Bruce replied in a stoic voice, his back still to the man.

"I cannot sleep knowing you're scrambling about in the batcave," Alfred said. "Besides, how would it be possible for a busy man like yourself to stay up until midnight without someone bringing you a coffee? I suppose whatever is in your hands is what has been keeping you up."

"No, it wasn't until now," Bruce said. He turned to face Alfred, turning towards him the way a secret door turns once one finally finds the hidden leaver. "I was filing some research from some old missions, when this package arrived at the front door."

"Well, whoever delivered this wasn't from the post office," Alfred replied, coming closer to examine the box, "the mail doesn't run this late at night."

Bruce then added, "Whoever it was would have had to climb over the front gate and have been invisible to not set off any of the alarms."

"Well, let's not wait any longer," Alfred said, shaking off his sleepiness and taking the box from Bruce, "we'll go watch the security cameras and solve the mystery."

"That's exactly what I was about to show you," Bruce replied, trailing after the man as they headed to the batcave, "you'll be surprised at what you see."

Once in the batcave, the jagged rock walls looked eerie and porous from the iridescent light of the main computer. The sound of dripping water echoed in the distance, and there footsteps seemed to bounce off the walls.

Bruce sat down before the computer, the package in Alfred's hands almost seeming dreamlike. The box made gave Bruce an uneasy feeling, like some evil and unheard of was lurking within the cardboard.

Bruce logged onto his computer and brought up all his security cameras, and then he zoomed in the one that showed his front porch.

"If we rewind you'll see this. . . ." Bruce said, rewinding the tape only moment before the package appearance.

Then at exactly twelve o'clock a faint, blue light appeared on screen and from it the package emerged. The blue light dissolved into the air and there sat the box as a remnant of its presence. Bruce paused the tape and waited for Alfred to say something, the man stood staring at the screen with a concentrated look in his eyes.

"So no one sent the box," Alfred inferred, as he slowly put down the box as though he just learned it was a ticking time bomb. "But things don't just appear from thin air, sir."

Bruce shook his head and brought the box closer, replying, "No one may have delivered it, but someone did send it. If you look at the label on the box it says it's from a 'friend,' and if you look closer you will see that it has a date that is exactly one year from today. The real question is where did it come from."

He was right, on the box it read, '_Bruce Wayne, from a friend._' Then it continued to list the date.

"You're suggesting time travel," Alfred interjected, as he caught on. "I would imagine such a thing might be possible many years from now, but only a year from now? How likely is it that someone will invent a time machine within this next year?"

"In our world, very likely," Bruce replied, his voice growing colder and his gaze sharpening. Alfred could tell he was thinking deeply. "But, for now, we're not getting any answers just sitting here, if someone managed to send this through time there has to be a good reason for it."

Bruce grabbed the box and cut off the tape that sealed it shut, and then he peeled the box open to find an array of newspaper articles and a DVD case on top. Bruce opened the case and took out the blank CD, and then he slid it into his computer.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Alfred said, as the CD began loading onto the computer.

"Neither do I," Bruce replied, his voice like a blank slate that held no emotion.

When the video began it was fuzzy with static, but after a few seconds it flashed to a dimly lit room that appeared to be a boiler room. The camera was being fumbled around in someone's hands and was going in and out of focus, before an assortment of voices yelling and fussing was heard in the background.

Then the camera was set on a table and showed several boys entering the room, they looked like teenagers and were obviously athletic due to their muscular build. They were dragging a younger boy into the room, this person was kicking and struggling to escape them so much that it was hard to get a clear visual of his face. It wasn't until they threw the boy onto the hard concrete, that Bruce and Alfred could recognize who it was. It was Dick.

Bruce and Alfred didn't looked at each other, but they were both feeling and thinking the same thing. Suddenly they both could feel the weight of the Wayne Mansion pressing down upon the Batcave and the entire cave began felt cramped and full of tension.

Dick was wearing his uniform from Gotham Academy, except he was gagged with his tie that is usually a part of the dress code. His hands and legs were taped together, the tape was so thick it looked like it was cutting off the circulation in his hands. Each strand of his hair was chaotic and skewed, his pale face was bruised, and there was a small cut lingering below one of his eyes.

That's when a deep, somber voice was heard, although they could not see the man Alfred and Bruce could tell he was much older than the other teenagers who had left the room by then.

"_You are testing my patience, Robin,"_ the voice said, in a calm, yet, intimidating tone. _"I'm going to give you one last chance to cooperate, help me get what I require and all of this will be over."_

Then a hand reached out and grabbed the tie around Dick's mouth, then he cut it off with a small hunting knife. Dick laid there with his head dropped and his breath coming out in raspy huffs, he looked too weak to even talk. Then he lifted his head with a glare in his eyes that was so full of hate, it almost seemed lethal to look at someone like that.

Then Dick laughed a bit, not flinching from his fixed glare, and replied, _"I never thought you were very patient. Anyone with a bit of patience would have thought this plan through better, but like all villains you've failed, because I will never help you."_

The man let out an angry exhale and said, _"What you don't realize is that I have already won. I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to kill all those people out there; including all your friends. It is not me who has failed, it's you. You have failed them."_

"_Why punish them?"_ Dick asked, his voice full of disgust. _"Killing them won't accomplish anything! I'm the one you want, don't hurt them."_

That's when a laugh, one as sinister as the sound of nails on a chalkboard, filled the entire recording, a laugh Bruce could recognize from miles away. It was the Joker, the tips of his purple gloves covered part of the camera as he yanked it up. The loud sound of rustling was heard as he brought the camera closer to Dick.

Once that laughter stopped, the Joker exclaimed, _"Don't you just love the sound of that! The Boy Wonder begging for mercy! That's right, beg for your little friends."_

"_While you think about what I just said,"_ the voice said, _"I'll leave you in the Joker's company. I thought you mind enjoy some bonding time."_

Then the man let a mocking laugh and footsteps were heard as the man walked away.

"_They're defenseless! You can't do this!" _Dick shouted after the man, struggling to move upon the concrete.

"_How I wish Bats was here to see his sidekick gravelling on the floor beneath my feet,"_ Joker went on, talking as though this was all just roller coaster and he was just enjoying the ride.

That's when Dick knocked the camera out of the Jokers hands and it sliding across the concrete, which was now showing a side view of Dick lying on the ground and the Joker standing over him.

"_Well, that wasn't very nice,"_ Joker replied, leaning back on a table behind him and pulling up a folder, "_didn't your parents ever teach you to play nicely? Oh, wait, according to this file, you don't have any parents."_

"_Everything's always a joke to you, isn't it?" _Dick asked, completely ignoring the Jokers attempts at getting under his skin. _"Don't you see what he's doing? He's using you, when this is all over they're going to blame you-"_

"_And let me take all the credit?"_ Joker interjected, talking as though he was honored by the thought. Then he pulled the papers out of the folder and threw them around the room, before crouching down to Dick's eye level. _"You know, I never would have imagined you to be a Richard. I always thought the Boy Blunder would have a more annoying name, like Jimmy or Sparky. . . ."_

Before Dick could interrupt, the Joker jumped up and ran over to the camera. He picked up the camera and held it up to show his face, which was much too close to the camera and gave both Bruce and Alfred an uncomfortable feeling.

"_But what would you say folks?"_ the Joker asked, talking like he was a television host. _"Can you believe it? Richard Grayson, son to the wealthiest man in Gotham, as Robin the sidekick of none other than the Dark Knight."_

"_The only audience you've ever had you killed or betrayed,"_ Dick called out, _"what makes you think anyone is going to listen to a lunatic like you?"_

"_You hear that, ladies and gentleman," _Joker went on, as gestured to Dick on the ground,_ "he doesn't think you're going to believe me. Well, how about I make it easier on you."_

That's when the Joker set the camera on the table again, walked away, and then came back with a large pillow. He flipped out his switch blade, which glistened with the reflection of his wicked smile, then he cut open the pillow and began pouring the feathers all over Dick. Dick used his bound hands to cover his face.

"_How about now?"_ Joker asked, shouting in a much louder, deeper voice. _"Does he remind you of the bird boy yet?"_

Then he tossed the pillow and crouched down behind Dick, he put both hands over Dick's eyes and yanked his head upwards to face the camera.

"_Or what about this?"_ Joker kept on asking, now bits of laughter breaking out with each pause he took. _"Look a little familiar yet?"_

Dick struggled to get out of the Joker's grasp, but instead Joker slammed Dick's head into the concrete. Dick reached up to his head in pain, but that's when the Joker flipped out his knife again. He slowly brought the sparkling blade down before Dick's neck, and then the comical look in his eyes grew more serious. He grabbed onto Dick's hair to hold him still as the blade hovered there, both Alfred and Bruce holding their breath at the sight.

He shifted moods drastically, the tone of his voice more eerie and solemn as he spoke, _"Or what if I did this?. . . Would that get your attention?"_

Then he lifted the knife and gently dragged it across the already open cut on Dick's face, Dick flinching as he went along. When he pulled the knife back up there was a bit of blood on it, which the Joker then proceeded to lick off the knife.

"_You're sick,"_ Dick uttered.

But the Joker didn't even look at Dick, he just kept his gaze locked on the camera as though he knew Bruce was watching this. Then he stood up and put his foot on Dick's face, pressing him further into the concrete as Dick struggled furiously to get away from him.

The Joker put back knife and said, _"Maybe after all of this is over, you and I can have dinner in that big, fancy mansion of yours. What do you say, Bruce?"_

Then his let out his loudest and most insane bit of laughter, before the camera went black and flicked off.

Both Bruce and Alfred sat there in silence for a moment, Bruce had his head down and he was thinking deeply while Alfred stood there was shocked than anything. Both of them having the feeling of being watched still hovering in the cave.

That's when Bruce spoke up, "Whoever sent this tape had to have sent it so that we could prevent this from happening."

Alfred snapped back into reality and looked at Bruce curiously, then replied, "If you and Master Dick's identities are at stake - if Dick's life is at stake - then I will do all that I can to help."

"I'll bring this up to the Justice League if I have to," Bruce replied, "but for now we're going to read the rest of these articles and gather as much research as we can. The sooner we figure out what is happening in this video and where it is going to happen, the better."

Alfred was quiet for a moment, and Bruce could tell something was on the man's mind.

"Do we tell, Master Dick?" Alfred finally asked, it was first time he had looked at Bruce since the video and he had a worried glint in his eyes.

Bruce shook his head and replied, "No, I don't want him to see this. I don't want to get him involved unless we have to."

Alfred merely nodded in agreement, and they both began the long night they would spend digging for information.

**Thanks for checking out my story, I'd love to hear what you think in the reviews!**


	2. Determination

**Thanks to all those who reviewed! I am really amped about this story. I'm very sorry for the delay on this chapter, I will be posting more frequently from here on. **

With each passing article that they read that night, there was a feeling that one might get after putting all their money into a stock that slowly begins to dwindle away. Hours were passing the way leaves fall at the approach of winter, and trying to find a lead made Bruce feel like a dog searching for food when it can't smell. How would they solve a crime that hadn't even been committed yet?

Bruce's fingers flew across the computer keys like lightening, while Alfred went on trying to piece the articles together in chronological order. He hung each article on a string as if they were clothes out to dry, he kept rearranging them and shaking his head at his failed attempts.

"If these articles are correct," Alfred spoke up, talking as though he was very focused, "everything that happens this year will lead. . . ."

"To the fall of Gotham," Bruce finished the thought, talking as though he had know for a long time, "criminal activity will rise and eventually outnumber police officials and heroes, they'll attack the banks, and when the banks fail the economy will too."

All of what Bruce was saying was in the fine print, articles titled, '_Whose Protecting the People of Gotham?_' and _'Will the Banks Ever Recover from Massive Theft?'_

"But that doesn't explain this," Alfred said, throwing an article down next to Bruce. "It states that the people of Gotham city will turn on the Justice League, protest and riot all vigilante work. It doesn't make sense. If Gotham is in desperate need of heroes, why turn against them?"

Connecting these articles really was like putting together a used puzzle, some of the pieces were missing. Bruce didn't have all the answers for Alfred, but he wouldn't stop until he found them.

Morning had crept up so gently, that it wasn't until Bruce and Alfred heard Dick bounding down the stairs that they realized it was another day closer to possibly losing Dick.

"It's easy to lose track of time in a cave, isn't it?" Alfred inquired. "We better go join Master Richard, before he grows curious of our whereabouts."

Bruce sat back his chair, his back cranking back painfully like a rusted cog wheel. He let out a deep sigh of exhaustion, before he nodded in agreement.

"You go ahead," Bruce replied, "I need to keep working."

"I presume I won't need to prep your brief case for you?" Alfred asked.

"No, I won't be going into the enterprises today," Bruce said, validating what Alfred already knew, "I have some people I need to visit."

"Very well, sir," Alfred replied, he turned to walk away, but stopped for a moment and turned back. "I hope you know that I have complete faith that you will solve this."

Alfred shuffled upstairs and into the kitchen, where he began to brew some tea and crack open some eggs onto a pan. It wasn't too long after when Dick appeared, he was in his school uniform and on his hand was one of his gloves from his Robin attire; which fit him in a quite miscellaneous fashion. Dick was typing on the holographic computer which emitted from the glove, he looked so absorbed in his work that it reminded Alfred of Bruce.

"Probably best if you not bring that school," Alfred said, turning with a pan of sizzling eggs in his hands. "We wouldn't want to replay what happened last week when you got caught hacking the school computers."

"Which I had a really good excuse for," Dick spoke up, "I was only trying to help Barbara recover her project for video class which was supposedly lost in the schools computer system. If anyone deserves detention it's Principle Finley for coming all the way over to our house without even calling first, who does that?"

Alfred chuckled at the mischievous look in Dick's eyes, before handing him some breakfast.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is it you're up to then?" Alfred asked.

"I'm getting back at Wally," Dick explained, "a couple weeks ago he broke into my room at Mount Justice and replaced all the clothes in my closet with Miss Martian's. So I hacked his alarm clock, he still has no idea I'm the one setting his clock off all the time."

"And what happens when Wallace figures that you're the one tampering with his electronics?"

"The prank gets even funnier!" Dick said, laughing as he slid the glove off his hand and began eating.

That's when Bruce stepped into the doorway, looming like a statue with camera hidden behind his cold, stoic eyes. Alfred set down the dishes and gave Bruce a look, one that Dick picked up on like a bat picking up on sonar waves. Although the lines in Alfred's face did not change to show any emotion, the man was rather transparent and a vibe of uneasiness came off him like cologne. Dick set down his fork and looked up at the two of them.

"I don't mean to make any Joker puns," Dick spoke up, smirking a bit, "but why is everyone so serious?"

"Alfred, I need to speak with you a moment," Bruce said, and then he turned to leave the room knowing that the man would follow.

Alfred began to leave when he leaned over to say to Dick, "You're asking why Master Bruce is serious? By now, I'd thought you would know the man a little better."

They both chuckled before Alfred hurried out after Bruce. Once Alfred was gone, Dick grabbed his backpack and headed towards the front door. Although he stopped, as the compulsion to spy on Bruce and Alfred had dug its wicked nails into him. A feeling that something was going on pricked like needles in the back of his neck. He knew that he shouldn't, but Dick leaned into the darkness and began listening into their conversation from a distance.

"I have the identities of all the teenagers in the video," Bruce told Alfred in hushed tone, "I'm going to talk with them today."

"How can you be sure that they'll know anything?" Alfred replied.

"I'm not," Bruce said back, "but it's all we've got."

Dick stepped back slowly, pondering on what he had just heard, but when the sound of footsteps cascaded down the hallway and into his direction he decided that was his cue to leave. On his way to school, Barbara caught up to him. He was so deep in thought he didn't even hear her calling his name.

"Dick! Wait up!" Barbara said, running up next to Dick and nudging his shoulder with her arm. "I've been calling your name all this time. I hope there's something good on your mind to make you ignore me like that."

Dick smiled at her and lied, "I was just thinking about that math test we have today."

"Don't tell me you would rather be doing math than talk to me," Barbara retorted, as he pulled her backpack up higher on her back.

"Of course not," Dick replied, "math is too easy. I need something more challenging."

"Are you saying I'm not easy to talk to?" Barbara shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dick shrugged his shoulders and replied, "There's just more problem solving involved when trying to figure people out. . . . Especially when those people are really stubborn."

"I'm not stubborn," Barbara said confidently, stopping to face Dick.

Dick raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a look that said it all.

"What? I'm not!" she shouted in a jovial voice.

They stood in front of Gotham Academy, looking upon it as though they were watching it from a great distance. Kids were rushing in and out of the school like a flock of birds scattering to get their share of breadcrumbs. Buses lined the sidewalks, releasing loud growls at they moved along. An array of different voices and footsteps carried through the air like a plague, interrupting the peacefulness of a sunny morning.

"Hey, Dick . . . do you see Principle Finley over there?" Barbara said, her voice sounding a little confused as she pointed towards the man. "Something about the way he's looking at us is kind of freaking me out, he's been watching us this whole time."

Dick squinted his eyes to see the Principle standing before the school, he wore a brown suit and his arms were crossed tightly across his chest with his feet planted firmly to the ground. Even as Dick and Barbara stood staring back at him, the man didn't not relinquish his eerie gaze from them. It looked as though the man was conspiring, like he was analyzing and creating blueprints of them within his mind, and it gave both Dick and Barbara a disconcerting feeling.

"I've seen a lot of creepy things in Gotham," Dick replied, "but that's got to top them all. Come on, let's get inside."

"Agreed," Barbara said back, as they both began hurrying into the school.

**MEANWHILE**

The low grumble of his engine as the bat mobile sped down the freeway, could not top the pounding in Bruce's chest. Although his mind was distant from his body, the determination to solve this mystery was like a fire billowing beneath his heart and making his blood surge faster. The speedometer twitched like a nervous child as Bruce put more pressure onto the gas pedal.

His car launched out from between the huge skyscrapers, which stood like the organs of Gotham, and continued to travel past naked trees with burn bark and skewed branches. Sunny skies were like a privilege that was rarely granted to the filth of Gotham, this was the first time in months that city had seen sunlight, but it would all be interrupted soon by the huge, plushy clouds of grey that were headed straight for the city.

When Bruce finally drove up the winding streets and to the gates of his destination, he was looking up at the huge, stone fortress known as Arkham Asylum. Bruce stopped the engine, it's vibration upon the car still lingering, as the man let out a deep exhale. Then he pulled out the lonely article he had stashed in one of the cars many compartments, the paper was limp within his hands. He looked down at it for a good while, although it caused him a deep wound in his chest.

Bruce had hid the article from Alfred for his own sake, the distress was already taking a heavy blow on the man and he didn't want to worry him anymore. It was the last article within their newfound collection, and it was about the day that social workers see Bruce as an unfit parent and remove Dick from the household.

Bruce pulled out a small tape recorder and began logging his thoughts.

"Entry twenty-nine," Bruce spoke up, "September 7th, 2012: So far I have yet to uncover when and where all of this is going to begin, but it is obvious now that everything that will happen in this next year will be an outcome of the torture tape we received. My deduction is that the Joker will release the video and once people know the identities of Batman and Robin, people will find it unjust for someone of Robin's age to be a part of something so dangerous. They'll want to keep him away from it. . . . They'll take him away from us. They'll try to protect him from me."

Bruce slowly clicked the recorder off and set it back into a compartment, which locked with a keypad. Then he released himself from the mobile and headed up the long pathway to Arkham, his presence drifting all around him like heavy smog.


End file.
